A farm succession strategy is to raise the adjusted cost base of your farming assets before control of the business passes along to your kids.

Confession of past tax sins normally costs less than an audit. Tax returns that contain errors or omissions are not uncommon. Do you know what to do if you find an error in your tax return after filing it? Or if you understated income or failed to file tax returns for several years?

Taxpayers win interest-deductibility cases.

Are you relying solely on Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security for your retirement needs? What are the chances that CPP and OAS will be around when today’s young people retire?
 Life insurance might provide added security.
 A rapidly aging population and longer life spans are placing pressure on government managed and funded retirement … Read more

When determining deductibility of losses, you can look to two Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) rulings from 2002 to guide you. In its decisions, the SCC laid out principles for an approach to determine whether a taxpayer’s activities represent a legitimate source of business or property income.

A tax professional can help you deal with Canada’s complex tax system. However, a tax professional, even if helping you with bookkeeping, will still rely on you to provide complete and accurate information regarding your income and expenses.Ensuring you keep good books and records throughout the year will help you feel at ease and also help your tax professional at tax time.

The chronic cash squeeze that plagues many farmers throughout their working lives can reverse itself at retirement. Suddenly, cash pours in from all directions and taxes become a big challenge. To properly prepare, farmers should start their succession and retirement planning in their 40s or 50s.

As a full-time farmer or small business owner you may face high levels of taxable income when it’s time to wind down or transfer your operation. There are strategies available to lessen the tax impact of selling your farm or business assets, but they take advance planning. 

Money can be withdrawn tax-free from a tax-free savings account, but remember the amount withdrawn isn't added back to your TFSA contribution room until the following year.